Lives of the early Medici

by Unknown

INTRODUCTORY

The ancestors given to the Medici are many, and their origin is not easy to trace amid the conflicting accounts of friends and foes. The latter declare they sprang from the very dregs of the people, and that a charcoal-burner in the Mugello was their progenitor, whose son was a doctor (medico). Their friends say they descend from Perseus, from a Roman consul, or even from an emperor. Others state that a brave knight, Averardo de’ Medici, came into Italy with Charlemagne and killed the fierce giant Mugello, who for years had kept Tuscany in bondage; while those who cling to the medico story, on account of the name, tell of a learned physician who saved the life of Charlemagne by applying cupping-glasses of his own invention. The well-known arms, six red balls on a field or, are accounted for in as many different ways. Doctors’ pills, cupping-glasses, apples from the gardens of the Hesperides, dents made by the giant’s mace on Averardo’s golden shield, and heads of enemies slain in battle by a valiant knight who killed eleven of his assailants, because the oldest shield of the Medici bore eleven balls.

According to genealogists the real progenitor of the Medici was a certain Giambuono. He appears to have been a priest, as is indicated in an ancient inscription on the wall of the church of the Assumption near S. Piero a Sieve in the Mugello. What is certain is that the family owned houses and towers in Florence in the twelfth century in the Piazza de’ Medici, afterwards called de’ Succhiellinai, near the church of S. Tommaso, which was in the Ghetto, now swept away. There a little inn, Del Porco, used to be pointed out as standing where once was the loggia of the family.

We have historical proof of the brothers Chiarissimo and Bonagiunta de’ Medici, descendants of Giambuono. Chiarissimo was a member of the council which made an alliance with the Sienese against Semifonte in the Val d’Elsa, when that strong castle was razed to the ground in 1201. Ardingo, a great-grandson of Bonagiunta, was the first of the family to hold high office in Florence. He became Prior of the city in 1291, Gonfalonier of Justice in 1296, and again in the following year. This proves decisively that the Medici were not of the old nobility, which had been excluded from all magisterial offices by a law passed in 1293, called the Ordinamenti della Giustizia, which Bonaini terms the Magna Charta of the Republic of Florence.[1] Ardingo’s brother Guccio, who was Gonfalonier in 1299, made himself so popular that when he died he was buried with great pomp in a sarcophagus of the fourth century, which stood outside the baptistery. Later it was removed into the cathedral, and in the eighteenth century was placed in the courtyard of Palazzo Riccardi (once Medici), where it still is. The cover, bearing the Medici arms and those of the Arte della Lana, or Guild of Wool, to which Guccio belonged, was made by order of the Priors at the time of his burial.

In 1314 another of the family, Averardo, was Gonfalonier of Justice, and one of his grandsons, Filigno di Conte de’ Medici, has left Ricordi, or Memoirs, written in 1373, which show how rich and influential the Medici had already become. The book, which still exists in the Florentine archives, was evidently once bound in vellum; the frontispiece is decorated with the Medici arms, six red balls on a field or, and the shield is surmounted by the head and paws of a black wolf rising out of what looks like the coronet of a modern Marquess.

Addressing his children he writes:

“In the name of God and of his blessed Mother Madonna Saint Mary, and of the whole Court of Paradise, who will I pray give us grace to act and to speak well.

“I, Filigno di Conte de’ Medici, seeing the late misfortunes of civil and foreign wars and the terrible mortality from the plague sent by our Lord God to this earth, which we fear he may send again as our neighbours have it, will write down the things I see which may be needful for you who remain or who come after me, so that you can find them if need be for any emergency. I pray you to write well in the future and to preserve those lands and houses which you will find inscribed in this book; most of them were bought by the noble knight Messer Giovanni di Conte, my brother of honoured memory, after whose death I began to write this book, taking from his records and from those of others. I beg you will take care of it and keep it in a secret place so that it may not fall into other hands, also because it may be necessary to you in the future as it is now to us, who have to find papers of one hundred years ago, for reasons which you will find written, because States change and have no durability.

“Also I beg of you to preserve not only the riches but the position attained by our ancestors, which is considerable but ought to be higher. It begins to decline on account of a dearth of capable men, of whom we once had many.

“Such was our greatness that it used to be said, ‘Thou art like one of the Medici,’ and every man feared us; even now when a citizen does an injury to another or abuses him, they say, ‘If he did thus to a Medici what would happen?’ Our family is still powerful in the State by reason of many friends and much riches, please God preserve it all to us. And to-day, thank God, we number about fifty men.

“Since I was born about one hundred of our men have died; there are but few families and we are badly off for children, that is to say there are few. I write this book in several parts. First I shall note certain facts which are useful to know, then the dowers and as many papers as I can collect, the bills of sale and such like, then all the purchases and who drew up the deeds, and then all the houses and lands we possess....”

Page 84 is interesting as showing where the houses of the Medici stood in Florence, and also that Cafaggiuolo belonged to them in early times.

“In the name of God amen.

“Here I inscribe all our lands and their boundaries and where they are situated, and the houses in Florence, and what possessions came to us from Conte our father in the division made between the brothers (that is the late Conte, Messer Jacopo, Messer Giovenco the knight, Talento, Francesco and Chiarissimo) of the inheritance of their father Averardo, those bought by Conte and also those bought by Messer Giovanni di Conte, knight, together with myself Filigno, and Jacopo and Michele, our brothers, during their life. To-day I begin to write and to cause Michele my son also to write on account of the fatigue, and of not being a good penman. God grant we do well.—1373, in February.

“A house with shops in front in the parish of S. Tommaso in the Mercato Vecchio in Florence; the first side fronts the street or rather the Mercato Vecchio, the second boundary is ours, the third is the street wherein stands S. Tommaso, the fourth is Talento di Chiarissimo de’ Medici and ourselves. Adjoining this house are two others, three smaller ones and several shops.... Also a palace with a courtyard, an orchard and a well, in the parish of S. Lorenzo of Florence, in Via Larga di S. Marco. The confines are first the said street; secondly the sons of Tantini with a common wall between us, saving that what is above their roof belongs to us and to Baglo di Dante, with the wall of our courtyard below; the third is the inn of the Cock, now the property of Niccolò di Cristofano di Geri Gazza, &c.; the fourth is the palace of Andrea Franceschi and Francesco di Biccio de’ Medici. A house is annexed to this palace....

“In the name of God amen. Possessions in Mugello.

“The half of a palace with houses around it, a courtyard, a loggia and a wall and moat, with an orchard outside in Cafaggiuolo in the parish of S. Giovanni in Petroio, with the sixth part of the interior courtyard, and the old walls, and all other things pertaining thereto that are in the division. The broad road is to be 7 feet 8 inches wide round the old enclosure of Cafaggiuolo, so that the sons of Messer Giovenco cannot prevent us from using the road in front of the palace and by their wall, as far as the bridge. The moat round Cafaggiuolo is entirely ours as it touches our walls.”[2]

A cousin of Filigno, Salvestro de’ Medici, led the Florentine troops against Giovanni Visconti, Archbishop and Lord of Milan, and was knighted on the battlefield of Scarperia. Gonfalonier of Justice in 1370, when Florence was distracted by the rivalry of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, he, being a Ghibelline, took the side of the people against the nobles, and advocated enforcing the enactments of the Ordinamenti della Giustizia, which excluded the nobles from power. But for the moment he failed, and was nigh being exiled when his name was again drawn from the borsa, or ballot-bag, as Gonfalonier in 1378. Once more he proposed to apply the law against the Guelph nobles, and meeting with opposition, threatened to resign. One of his friends then appealed to the populace, and the result was the Ciompi riot. The mob broke into the Palazzo de’ Priori and the Palazzo del Podestà, burnt many palaces, and knighted sixty-four citizens in the Piazza della Signoria, of whom Salvestro was the first.

His popularity is shown by a sonnet addressed to him by Franco Sacchetti, author of many tales, who rather profanely calls him “non gia Salvestro, ma Salvator mundi.” Salvestro was, however, a canny burgher and made some profit out of the revolution, as the rents of the shops on the Ponte Vecchio were assigned to him. Henceforward the Medici were looked upon as the friends and defenders of the people against the Grandi or nobles.

The founder of the line of citizens who ruled Florence like princes was Giovanni d’Averardo, surnamed Bicci, de’ Medici, born in 1360. He was several times a Prior, and in 1421 Gonfalonier of Justice. During the Councils of Basel and Constance he made a fortune in exchange, and being charitable was much beloved by the people. His popularity increased when, against his advice, the nobles insisted on advancing to meet the Duke of Milan instead of waiting for him to attack them in Tuscany, with the result that at Zagonara the Florentines were beaten. The expenses of the war exhausted the treasury, and disturbances broke out in Florence. The nobles, fearing a repetition of the Ciompi riots, attempted to form a government of Ottimati, as the party of the oligarchy were called, and thus undermine the power of the minor guilds. Some even suggested seizing the property of charitable confraternities in order to obtain money. Giovanni de’ Medici was consulted, and declared he would have nothing to do with such robbery. A few years later he successfully advocated the abolition of the odious system of forced loans, and the institution of the catasto, which regulated all the taxes to be paid to the Commune of Florence. He then became the idol of the people. Cavalcanti writes that when he lay dying on 20th February 1429, “he called his sons Cosimo and Lorenzo, and in the presence of their mother, Piccarda Bueri, of their wives, and of other citizens, spoke to them thus: ‘Beloved sons, neither I nor any man born into this world should feel grief at exchanging worldly cares for perpetual repose. I know that the last days of my life are nigh, and where timid or foolish women or cowardly men would feel sorrow, I feel great joy. I leave you in possession of the great wealth which my good fortune has bestowed upon me, and which your good mother and my own hard work has enabled me to preserve. I leave you with a larger business than any other merchant in the Tuscan land, and in the enjoyment of the esteem of every good citizen and of the great mass of the populace, who have ever turned to our family as to their guiding star. If you are faithful to the traditions of your ancestors, the people will be generous in giving you honours. To achieve this, be charitable to the poor, kindly and gracious to the miserable, lending yourselves with all your might to assist them in their adversity. Never strive against the will of the people, unless they advocate a baneful project. Speak not as though giving advice, but rather discuss matters with gentle and kindly reasoning. Be chary of frequenting the Palace; rather wait to be summoned, and then be obedient, and not puffed up with pride at receiving many votes. Have a care to keep the people at peace, and to increase the commerce of the city. Avoid litigation or any attempt to influence justice, for whoso impedes justice will perish by justice. I leave you clear of any stain, for no evil deed has been committed by me. Thus I bequeath glory and not infamy to you as a heritage. I depart joyfully and with more happiness if you do not enter into party strife. Be careful not to attract public attention. I commend to you Nannina my wife and your mother, see that after my death ye change not the habits and customs of her life. Pray to God for me, my sons, that my passage may be crowned by the salvation of my immortal soul. Now take my blessing. Cosimo, see that Lorenzo be kindly and a good brother; and thou, Lorenzo, honour Cosimo as the elder.’ Saying this, he passed from this life.”[3]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For an account of the Ordinamenti della Giustizia see I Primi Secoli della Storia di Firenze, chap. viii. Pasquale Villari, Firenze, 1893.

[2] Archivio Mediceo ante Principatum. Registro, Della famiglia de’ Medici.

[3] Istorie Fiorentine, Giovanni Cavalcanti, i. 262. Firenze, 1838.

COSIMO DI GIOVANNI DE’ MEDICI.

From the marble relief by Andrea Del Verrocchio (?) in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin.